Lost Photos and Silly T-Shirts
by Ellie Ivy
Summary: Dean and Jo have been married for almost two years and have finally established a pretty balanced lifestyle with hunting and domestic life. When Dean's birthday rolls around, Jo is elated by the timing. She and the others pull together a little birthday surprise that will change his life forever. - Newly improved of "Silly T-Shirts"
1. Chapter 1

January 24th had rolled around again. It was always just a normal day. Usually pretty cold. Dean Winchester knew that this day was marked as an important date annually. That's just how birthdays work. He could barely remember his birthdays growing up. He can distantly remember his fourth birthday, the one he was able to celebrate with his happy father and very pregnant mother. His fifth birthday rolled around and the most he got was a couple of poorly wrapped gifts, a distracted father and about an eight month old baby brother to tend to.

For years, that was a common trend. However, when Sam was old enough, he would do his best to make Dean's birthday exciting. Though it wasn't much, Dean remembered how content he was, even for a couple of hours, to just sit and enjoy opening a present from his little brother and Uncle Bobby, followed by some chatting. Not to say John Winchester really disregarded his sons' birthdays. He didn't give them much. He knew that it was a day to celebrate they were alive. That also brought a sense of dread because he knew that they were Mary's sons just as much as his and it would hurt. Dean understood.

Time passed and Sam left for Stanford. Dean was alright with no birthday celebration when the twenty-fourth day of January came around. He knew that it was just the same for Sam when the second of May did the same. Of course, the time after John Winchester went missing, Sam went on that hunt and Jess died, the days seemed to get jumbled. They were sometimes happy to remember the day of the week and the exact date was only relevant at some points in time. Dean couldn't remember over the years when he hadn't been on a job when his birthday rolled around.

His first real celebration had been almost two and a half years ago. He was of course happy at the sight of his little brother barely fitting to hide behind the grandfather clock. He loved Bobby and Ellen's attempts to hold back laughter when they heard his footsteps. The sight of Castiel standing in the middle of the dark room with only the illumination of the porch light into the Roadhouse, his expression showing absolute confusion, was priceless. He chuckled as Jo gently led him into the room. Surprise parties were cliche, they knew, but it was new for Dean.

That day though had gone from revolving around him to revolving around the beautiful engagement ring around Jo's finger. He hadn't really given any thought to the idea of a big birthday party when he had planned the proposal. He just knew that he and Jo had been going steady for quite some time and it was right. He knew Jo would have wanted to at least acknowledge that day by going out for dinner, if they were lucky to be lacking the strain of a hunt at the time. He didn't know that she would have planned a surprise party on that particular day. He wasn't going to let the box in his pocket weigh him down any further that it had already been doing for the past two months. So, right as Jo was handing him his last gift (Cas was surprisingly pretty good with wrapping paper), he expertly pulled out the little box from his jacket and added it with the gift he had opened, knowing that after they exchanged, she would organize the contents.

Her gasp was music to his ears the moment she realized what it was, catching everybody off guard. All attention fell on her; her eyes wide, one hand over her mouth and the other holding the box. The rest was history... He and Jo had managed to pull together a lovely ceremony. Unfortunately, their honeymoon was cut short by a case of changelings, but they were learned how to balance the hunting life with their life as a married couple.

The beginning of January had rolled around and he noticed how Jo had been acting strange. About a week into the month, a box came in addressed for her. When he inquired about it, she told him it was stuff for a friend of hers that had been addressed to her to be sent later. He didn't ask any further questions. There was no need.

If it there was one thing he knew about Jo, it was that she was always thinking about something. And sometimes, it was just plain scary to even think what went on in that pretty little head of hers.


	2. January 24th

Dean sighed as he pulled his coat off. He'd been busy checking off tasks on the honey-do list for the past two days. Every completed task made him feel more and more normal. He felt like he was just a normal guy. He was the good son-in-law around the Roadhouse, patching up the place where Ellen told him to patch up. He was a good friend, defending Ash from some drunks who seemed pretty offended by some genius comment he made. He was a good husband, cleaning up where he went because he knew Jo was busy.

He had seen Bobby pull up about an hour before. He had been too busy with the roof at the time and knew that the moment he got down, he wouldn't want to go back up. Sam had only gotten back about half an hour ago with some groceries (he talked Dean into giving him that job for the day).

He was greeted by Bobby who gave him a quick pat on the back. "Those women got you working on your birthday, son?" he asked. Dean gave a chuckle.

"Actually Bobby, I was way behind on my list. I've received a few happy wishes through the day... I'm good," he told him. "In all honesty, I think the best present I could have gotten was the opportunity to fix that roof. That leak was a pain in my ass..." Bobby gave him a smile before turning to walk down the hall.

Dean watched him retreat for a few seconds before he called to him. "Hey Bobby! How long did it take you to find a shirt that says "Great Uncle Bobby"? I love you man but you're not all that great," he joked as he rolled up his sleeves. Bobby began to walk away again, his hand waving about.

"I'm pretty damn great if I may say so myself, ya idjit!"

Dean couldn't help but laugh at the response before falling silent once more. Once he made sure all his things were organized, he proceeded forward into the next room. It was too cold for the bar to be busy. There were only a few hunters chatting about the recent jobs over a few beers. They greeted him with nods of the head or a wave of the hand. He returned the gesture as he neared the bar.

"Dean, my man!" came Ash's voice. "It's a damn shame you had to take care of all those chores on a day like this." Dean gave Ash a shrug.

"Doesn't bother me. I like making progress," he replied. Ash merely nodded before handing him a beer.

"Hey, nothing like having a less sucky roof on your birthday," he commented, taking a swig of the beer. He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. "Happy birthday by the way."

Dean thanked him before taking a gulp of his own drink. He however became suddenly interested in Ash's black t-shirt, spelling "Super Nanny" in bold white. He quirked an eyebrow.

"What kind of bet from hell did you lose to have to wear a shirt like that?" Dean asked. Ash gave a confused expression before glancing down at his shirt. He pulled the fabric away from his body to read the words upside down like he had forgotten they were there.

"Oh! Actually, it was this chick from this bar. She has made me honorary baby-sitter," he said as he smoothed the shirt back out. "I like to think it's because of my calm demeanor..." Dean nodded before taking another gulp.

"Didn't know you were into kids."

"Gift from God I say," he grinned. "Gotta go and check the computers. Been working on some important business.." Dean watched as the strange man disappeared to his room.

Dean was left to himself to finish his beer. It was relaxing having the dim lighting of the bar. He mulled over the thought of starting a fire. That would be nice and homey. His thoughts were interupted by a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to find Ellen behind him.

"I was about to go and track you down, boy. I was beginning to wonder if you froze up there..." she said. "Good thing you came back because I would have thrown out my back just thinking about getting you down from there." Dean laughed. It was always a comfort listening to Ellen. She was that annoying mother-in-law who he adored and feared.

"I'm sorry. I got really focused and I-"

"I'm just messing with you. Don't apologize," she said as she pat his hand. Dean grinned at her. She was wearing her usual flannel shirt, he noted, but there was something odd about seeing the print on the t-shirt under it. He read it to himself...

"'GrandMama'? You and Bobby both... Don't smother yourselves with the love you are showing for yourselves."

"I am pretty grand, aren't I? I mean, I raised that crazy kid, Jo. I deserve to be a grand mama," she joked as she leaned over the bar. "Jo gave it to me."

Dean let out an "oh, I see". "Nice shirt... Where did she get it?"

"Oh! A website online. She had one made for Bobby and I. Think she even made one for your brother too," she told him as she wiped down a section of the bar that was recently vacated.

"What's his say?"

"Dean!" Sam's voice boomed as he strode into the room. "Dude, have you seen my flashdrive?"

Dean shot him a look. "I've been on the freaking roof, Sam! Unless you have been surfing the web on the roof, I haven't seen a thing." Sam let out a sigh in response before rubbing his eyes.

"I'm going crazy... I could have sworn I left it..." he paused and reached into the breast pocket of his flannel. "Dammit."

"Left it in your pocket?" Dean inquired, receiving a sharp look from his brother in return.

"No, Dean. I, in fact, have seemed to have misplaced your keys," he grumbled. Dean's eyes grew wide. However, Sam only chuckled before shaking his head. "Dude, I'm kidding. I drove Jo's truck today. Chill."

"They why are you freaking out? Something wrong with your left boob or something?"

Sam huffed. "No. I just forgot to grab your birthday gift! I must have left it in the car... I really don't want to bundle up just to go out to the truck." Dean waved his hand.

"Sammy, seriously! I can wait. I mean, it's not like I'm doing much for my birthday as it is. Got some of the honey-do list checked off, a nice cold beer. I'm content..." he assured him. "Are you wearing your shirt from Jo too?"

Sam shook his head. "Not at the moment, no. I'd thought I would wait..."

"What's it say?" he asked. "Does it mention anything about your lovely flowing locks? Maybe it says something about how you make the lady sasquatches weak in the knees?"

Sam let out a giggle. "No! I actually have yet to read it. I'll probably wear it later or something when I see Jo around. Pretty sure it has something about a moose. I saw antlers..." Dean couldn't help but throw his head back and bellow with laughter. If there was one thing that Dean liked about knowing Crowley, it was the silly nickname endowed to his unfortunate little brother.

"I know, hilarious," Sam chuckled.

"Hey, Sam?" Dean perked when he heard Jo's voice.

"Yeah?"

Jo appeared with a blue and grey flashdrive held between her thumb and pointer finger. "Is this yours?" She tossed it to him.

"Where did you find it?" Sam asked.

She ran her fingers through her hair before responding. "It was sitting on the bar earlier today when it had gotten slightly busy. Some drunk guy attempted to take a bite out of it..." Sam let out a squeak before shoving it into his jean pocket, wiping his hand down his flannel over and over with a disgusted expression. "He discovered pretty quickly that it wasn't that appetizing or that perhaps his dental insurance wouldn't cover it."

"Uh... Thanks Jo. I'm going to, um..."

"Yeah, I guessed as much," she smirked as he hugged her and gave her a grateful peck on the top of her head.

"Hey, Mama. I turned the sign off," Jo told her mother as she leaned over to kiss her mother's cheek.

"Thank you, darlin'. Hopefully business will pick up. Especially now that we may be able to keep the heat in," she told her.

Jo turned to Dean, smiling widely at him. "Hi honey, did you fix the roof?" she asked as she wrapped her arms around his neck sweetly. He replied with a low "mm-hm" before leaning down to peck her on the lips.

"I think I am going to let your brother grocery shop from now on," she continued as she nestled into his chest.

"Why?" Dean asked. Jo recognized the slightly offended tone. She knew that Dean was always trying to beat his little brother at stupid things. It wasn't relevant to anything, she just wanted to see his reaction.

"Sam sticks to the list that Mom and I so carefully write out. You on the other hand..." she jabbed him playfully in the chest with her finger," You have self-control issues and tend to bring back more junk food than anything."

Dean huffed, rolling his eyes. "Come on, Jo. So it was that one time that I went grocery shopping and I brought back four pies. I assure you that not a single bite went to waste."

"Dean, sweetheart... I forced you to put back two boxes of pop tarts one time after you had picked up four. You have to limit yourself! I can't have a flabby hubby!" She wrinkled her nose at him playfully as she pushed herself away. Dean watched her as she moved around to the behind the counter along with her mother. He smirked at her, leaning forward on an elbow.

"You scared the girls are going to make fun of you?" he questioned. He soon found her face mere inches from his, assuming their usual stance for playful banter. "Are you afraid that the other guys are going to question why you married me? I bet I'm not the only one who loves a good cinnimon-sugar-apple filled pastry. Sometimes I even settle for some cherry. "

"Trust me. You're almost the worst, but not quite. Tilly's husband came home the other week with ten ice cream tubs," she informed him as she began to move about once more. "Ten tubs of ice cream in the winter."

"Every sweet tooth is different."

"Speaking of 'sweet tooth'," Ellen interupted as she pointed at her daughter. "How's about you go and get the other three?"

Dean's features fell to show confusion. As he mulled over how the love for sugar cane and "others" related, Jo had left to round up the other three. Ellen shooed away the last few customers, telling them that they could go and get some booze somewhere else. They had grumbled but stumbled out nonetheless. Before he could really realize what was happening, his nose was filled with the scent of baked apples and the wax of cheap birthday candles.

Sam placed a still warm pie in front of his brother. Dean glanced around to see that Ash had emerged from his room and Bobby was settling himself on the nearest barstool. Ellen reclaimed her spot behind the counter while Jo pressed next to Dean.

A loud and insanely out of tune chorus of "Happy Birthday" filled the room. Dean felt a blush slightly rise on his face in response to the sudden attention. When the chorus died, he stared at the candles.

"Are you thinking about making a wish?" Jo asked.

He gave a small shrug. "Why not?"

"Oh my God... Some one call in a missing person's report. I seem to have lost my brother," Sam laughed, clapping his brother on the shoulder. Dean shot him a look before focusing back on the candles. A few seconds passed and the candles were out.

All began to move around again. They went to retrieve plates or silverware. Jo leaned onto Dean's shoulder, asking: "Should I get my hopes up in regards to you telling me your wish, Dean-o?"

"Nope," he said, popping the "P". "That, I believe, is against the rules. And until I find a case that provides the opportunity to debunk the belief that sharing a wish will only ruin your chances, I am going to be superstitious and keep it my little secret." He placed a kiss to the crown of her head before a giant piece of lovely apple pie was placed before him.

"Don't get too comfy right there, Dean. We'll be moving into the living room for presents in a little bit. You're the center of attention until midnight strikes for the twenty-fifth of January," Ellen told him as she handed Jo a piece of pie. "None of your 'I'm alright, you guys shouldn't have' crap. Enjoy the spot-light."

"Yes ma'am..." he chuckled as he took a bite of his birthday pie. As long as he got to get one more piece of pie without his wife telling him he's going to get fat, he was alright with remaining the center of attention for the rest of the night.

(To Be Continued)


	3. Joys That Came in Wrapping Paper

He just happened to sneak in one more piece of pie before the pastry was completely gone. He had considered saving a piece for later, but he knew that the pie was made special and he wanted it to be special for the day.

They all pushed him to the fireplace mantle. Making him sit down so that they could give him presents. Bobby was first, handing him a bright color bag with the cotton candy color tissue paper.

"I knew that the bag was going to be the safest bet to put your gift in," Bobby told him as he watched him pull out the card. "If I even attempted with wrapping paper, you wouldn't be able to get into the gift because there would have been so much tape... I can kill wendigos and exorcise demons, but I can't wrap my own nephew's gift to save myself." This elicited a laugh amongst the group. Dean pulled the paper out of the bag to reveal a very elegantly engraved flask. He had lost his on a hunt a while back and never thought to get one since.

Ash handed his next. His was actually wrapped but not entirely. Ash scratched at the back of his neck bashfully. "The tape also seems to have some vendetta against me..." Dean only grinned and pulled the paper off.

Dean pulled the box open to reveal a collection of five or six movies. He sifted through them. He never really liked spending money on movies. He was never sure when he was going to sit down long enough to enjoy them and he was never really keen on investing the money when he knew that he had other things to invest it in. The life of a hunter, especially one sharing finances with a significant other, means tight budget. Though he had a collection, it was slowly growing. "Dude! 'The Shining'! Stanley Kubrick was the man!" he enthused as he pulled out the tell-tale case with the haunting picture of Jack Nicholson's face wedged into the splintering wood of a door, his expression grotesque. "'Edward Scissorhands'... 'Silence of the Lambs'. 'The Notebook'?" He glared at his wife.

"Sorry, honey. We sort of share a DVD player. So, you get to share a movie night with me."

"You're not that into chick-flicks, Jo."

"I am when it is has Ryan Gosling. Now, say thank you," she told him as she took the box of films from him and laid a gift from Ellen in his lap.

He was almost distracted by the shiny blue wrapping paper but he wasn't going to admit that. He tore into the gift to find a pair of nice headphones. He was about to protest but Ellen handed him one of his casette tapes and a casette player. "Here. I know you're not really interested in mp3 players and you scare people away with your car blaring the music. I thought that you would like to work with some of your favorite songs without any problems. And don't make me feel guilty about those headphones. That was money well invested if I can prevent losing customers because of your music." He stood up and hugged her before putting the gift to the side.

Sam leaned forward to hand his brother his gift. Dean had the urge to roll his eyes in response to the perfectly wrapped box with the abomination of a bow on top. The multicolored paper fit so snug on the box, he did feel a sense of guilt for tearing into it but he knew that was ridiculous. The paper was removed and he moved onto opening the box.

"Sammy..." Dean whispered as he stared at the neat little cover to the photo album before him. He carefully pulled out the album, pushed the box off his lap and balanced the gift on his knees.

Sam grinned at him. "I have been saving up some pictures over the years. In fact, I saved so many I forgot that I had two boxes just full of old photos. I decided to have some copies made. Bobby didn't know that I was stashing them in his place..."

Bobby followed with a huff. "Yeah... I didn't know until they came falling on me."

Sam ignored him and continued. "I didn't have that many from when we were kids but I had a few. I arranged them in chronological order for you."

Dean flipped through the pages. The first one he had remembered vividly even though it had been lost to him for some time. It was an old faded picture of his mother when she was younger. Probably around the time she and his father had gotten married. The second one that followed of was his very pregnant mother sitting in a chair smiling while his happy father stood behind her, beaming down at her. She had been pregnant with him... Some other photos followed, some he didn't even know had really existed. Two were of him as an infant, one of him baking with his mother and then one of him snuggling up to her while she was pregnant with Sammy. John must have taken those... He probably had kept them tucked away in the Impala before the fire. That thought made Dean's heart ache so he flipped forward.

"Aw! Look at the baby Sammy!" he cooed as he held up the album for the group to see. Sam pulled away from the group to allow them to see clearer. It was one of the only pictures he could find of him and Dean when he was only an infant. The care-free four year old leaning on the crib rail while standing in a chair, grinning up at the camera while a three month old lay wide-eyed at his on-looker. "I forgot about that picture... Mom actually took it. She had grabbed the camera and asked me, 'Who loves his baby brother?' and I remember turning my head and smiling, saying something like, 'Me! I love, Sammy'." He hadn't realized that a tear had fallen down his cheek and he had actually elicited some sniffles from the group. He took in a deep breath and continued forward.

The rest of the pictures were mostly ones he had taken when he was younger. He had stolen Bobby's camera a couple of times when his dad was out and he would run around outside with it if he could. Some of the pictures were of a very fussy Sam as a toddler. Some of these were grainy though and faded. Nonetheless, they were artifacts and they captured an innocence that was long since lost.

The remaining photo seemed to be from when he and Sam were pre-teens and teenagers. Not many of those existed it seemed, which was okay in his book since he wasn't entirely too fond of those years. Not like they had a great deal of time on their hands either because those were the years John had pulled them into hunting. He skipped through those.

A section was of them after some hunts after they reunited. Not a lot of those either but a good few. Some of just him, some of just Sam and some of them both. Usually planted in front of the Impala or at Bobby's house. Times when they could relax.

Then came the Harvelle's. One was of Sam standing with Jo perched on his shoulders as she reached for a dead lightbulb. He remembered taking that picture with the camera Sam had laying around and never had intended for it to be developed exactly. One made him laugh when he saw Castiel and Jo dancing around. He must had missed out on that... The other that followed were merely simple shots of Jo or Ellen. Maybe Ash and Cas.

"Dean! Look at this one!" Jo gasped as he finally turned to the end. She sat herself next to him quickly. It was a sweet picture. He had his arms wrapped around her loosely while hers were around his neck in a similar fashion. Foreheads resting against each others, the most lovesick smiles plastered on their faces and their eyes locked. It was a beautiful picture and he suddenly remembered that Cas had been playing with the camera and they were both joking around about how he would probably cause the image to come out with a blur or cover the lense. He hadn't intended for it to be such a well shot picture.

"Cas is quite the photographer," Dean stated, closing the album.

"Thank you," came the tell-tale voice. He had appeared in front of Ash who had squeaked in surprise.

"You're welcome..." Dean replied as he stood up, grabbing Cas's hand and pulling him in for a quick hug. "It's been a while, buddy."

"I am sorry to be gone as long as I have been. I have been quite busy lately. I actually ran into-"

"Castiel. We don't care right now... Right now is the time to be normal and partake in the merriment of a birthday party. You seem to fail to understand this concept," Sam told him as he clapped him on the shoulder. "Later." Cas merely nodded.

"Of course... Happy birthday, Dean."

(To Be Continued)


End file.
